Recent content by sleepylight

After going to my box of homebrew stuff I just just discovered that I have a tube of white labs yeast any pack of wyeast that were not refrigerated for about a week. Have I ruined my yeast?

I'm making an IPA from an extract kit which is set up for a 2.5 gallon boil, with 2.5 gallons of water to be added after the boil, for a typical 5 gallon batch. My kettle is large enough to easily boil 5 gallons, and I've been told that it really doesn't matter when the water gets added, as...

Ah, excellent! Thank you. I'm fermenting the farm bought cloudy juice type, so I'm best off degassing and putting the carboy aside for some months. Maybe I'll get some clear store bought juice and make up some more cider to tide me over in the short term. Then get drunk. Thanks!!!

So, just as a general rule of thumb, how long should I let cider ferment in primary, and how long should I let it age before kegging/bottling?

Ok, that's good to know. I couldn't believe what I was seeing on the hydrometer. It seemed impossible to ferment to that kind of alcohol content, so I'm glad to hear it must be something else. I will try degassing tonight. I'm pretty sure I have the tool for that. Can you describe what...

No, I didn't boil it. Since it was already pasteurized, I figured I'd be fine. Maybe not. If it turns out that this can't be saved, I'll cook it at 185 next time.

I probably should have asked for help before jumping in, but I appear to made 5 gallons of undrinkable vinegary smelling cider. I took the advice from one of the sticky threads in this forum and went with 5 gallons of preservative-free pasteurized cider plus nottingham yeast. I let the mix...